[ale] OT: Well it is going to hit the list sooner or later.

[Courtney Thomas]

Dow,

Surely you're not saying your job description should be your code of 
ethics   :-)

Kind regards,

Courtney



Dow Hurst wrote:

> Mike,
> Jenn is right because a sysadmin has extreme access to others privacy 
> without true authorization to actually invade that privacy.  It's like 
> having video camera's on people bedrooms all the time but you know you 
> ethically should never look in the viewfinder.  It's not your job, since 
> you just run the server.  If a proper authority authorizes you to look 
> then your okay, but only then.
> Dow
> 
> 
> Mike Panetta wrote:
> 
>> The only problem with that I can see is your boss will never sign a 
>> letter saying that
>> you can spy on him.  So in effect this means its ok for higher ups to 
>> spy on and fire
>> lower down people for slacking off (or doing whatever) and its not ok 
>> for lower down
>> people to spy on and get higher up people fired for doing the same.  
>> This is illogical
>> and can create a bad climate (one that already exists, how many people 
>> do you know
>> would be willing to rat out someone important in their company for 
>> doing something harmful to said company?) where stagnation and immoral 
>> and unhealty acts can be
>> done by higher ups (and are) and cannot be stopped or watched by 
>> anyone else.
>>
>> Who watches the watchers?
>>
>> Oh, and why is what he did unethical?  Why is trying to save taxpayers 
>> (or
>> in the case of a private company, shareholders) money by checking that
>> someone is doing the job they are payed (and payed very highly in the 
>> case of CEO's and such) to do, and not wasting money by slacking off.  
>> Why is it unethical for someone lower down in the company to use
>> the means he has at hands (his knowledge) to check up on someone,
>> while its not unethical for someone higher up in the company to use the
>> means he has (someone elses knowledge) to check up on someone?
>>
>> Basicly your saying its ok for the CEO's and other corperate bastards of
>> the world to get rich by slacking off and telling us what to do, but 
>> its not
>> ok for us to protect the company by turning them in when they waste the
>> companys money by slacking off and doing no real work.  I think your
>> sense of ethics is a bit off.
>>
>> Mike
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: "J.M. Taylor" <jtaylor at onlinea.com>
>> Sent: Aug 1, 2004 10:24 AM
>> To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts <ale at ale.org>
>> Subject: Re: [ale] OT: Well  it is going to hit the list sooner or later.
>>
>>
>> My interpretation of the SAGE code of ethics is the following: I do not
>> read people's emails, even tho it is within my power.  I do not spy on
>> people, even tho it is within my power and in many cases may prove their
>> misdeeds.  I do not collect data on people's misdeeds even tho these
>> people may be harming me on the job.  I do not make these decisions.  I
>> just run the server.
>>
>> If it is required of me that I do these things, I ask for a signed letter
>> from a higher-up, or the law enforcement agency or whatever, to prove 
>> that
>> I was not acting on my own.  It is never right for a systems 
>> administrator
>> to give in to his or her baser nature and use their technical knowlege to
>> further a complaint against a coworker, unless s/he has been asked to do
>> this by a superior for legally and ethically correct reasons.
>>
>> And yes, if my boss told me to gather data about someone that I knew 
>> was goofing off all day but wouldn't give me the signed letter, I 
>> would refuse to do it even if it meant my job.  That's how strongly I 
>> feel about the importance of my integrity in what I do.  It's also 
>> just CYA -- when the fit hits the shan and it's my word against my 
>> boss's about who ordered collecting the data....no way am I going to 
>> get involved in that.  I'm not completely stupid.
>>
>> IMNSHO this guy isn't a saint or a martyr.  He did something
>> unethical, and unethical acts are unethical regardless of the motivating
>> reasons.  If you steal from your company and give the money to starving
>> people, it's still stealing.  If all he did was send emails about the
>> boss, maybe he should've taken the time to actually go speak to someone
>> face-to-face.  If he had gotten the go-ahead from a higher-up to do this,
>> then it would've been fine.  It sucks that the boss didn't get fired, but
>> ALDOT was entirely correct in firing the admin.
>>
>> Jenn
>> </end>
>>
>>
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> 
> 
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